Pontiff joins Instagram

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has announced his membership on popular image sharing site, Instagram.

He made this known on Saturday, March 19, 2016, when he posted on Instagram, “I am beginning a new journey, on Instagram, to walk with you along the path of mercy and the tenderness of God.”

One of his first set of posts showed him bowing in prayer, accompanied by the words “Pray for me”. This is a request he often asks of his followers.

The Pope acquired over 58,000 followers a few minutes after setting up his Instagram account on the morning of his debut on the platform.

READ: Pontiff set to join Instagram

He captioned his very first photo on the site with nine different languages, including French, Spanish and German.

The CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, was on hand in the Vatican City to help the Pope with any technical difficulties he may have had.

In an Instagram post of the pair shaking hands, Systrom wrote: “Watching Pope Francis post his first photo to Instagram today was an incredible moment.”

“@Franciscus, welcome to the Instagram community! Your messages of humility, compassion and mercy will leave a lasting mark.”

The Pope already has a cult following on Twitter with 8.89m followers.